a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic musical instruments, and more particularly to electronic musical instruments suitable for generating musical sounds of rhythm instruments rich in variations by using not a keyboard but a performance operator.
b) Description of the Related Art
Electronic musical instruments essentially a potential energy of generating various types of musical sounds because they produce tone signals electronically. In order to change tone signals in various manners, it is necessary to control tone signals in various modes.
In a keyboard type electronic musical instrument, various types of tone signals are controlled by using a key number KNo representing a tone pitch, an initial touch signal representing a key depression speed, an after-touch signal representing a depression force left after key depression, and other signals, respectively obtained when depressing keys on the keyboard.
Information obtained only from these signals has a limit. It has been desired to provide various other information in order to provide a wide range of such control.
For example, in playing rhythm instruments, conventional information is rather insufficient for giving a performance characteristic to rhythm instruments.
It is also difficult in many respects for a keyboard type electronic musical instrument to sequentially actuate keyboards keys in a portamento manner.
One example of an operator device for electronic musical instruments is described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 50-4144. This operator device has the structure that a coiled conductive member extending lengthwise is suspended slightly above an electric resistive body. The coiled conductive member and resistive body are supported between first and second support units facing each other and mounted being spaced from each other within a spring plate frame of a channel shape in section. In giving a musical performance, a finger is pushed against and moved along the coiled conductive member. The coiled conductive member pushed with the finger locally contact the resistive body, and the resistance value at the contact position controls the oscillation frequency of a variable frequency oscillator.